APUSH Period 8 (1945-1980)

Cold War

Conflict between two belligerents in which neither engages in open warfare with the other. A battle of ideologies

Causes of the Cold War

• Communism- US wanted democracy soviet kept expanding

  • World remade into communism or democratic capitalism

• Stalin- Decided to keep troops central and eastern countries and create a kind of buffer zone between russia and germany even though they didn’t agree to

• US saw this as a violation of their agreement to allow these countries self determination

• Berlin- Germany would be divided into four occupation zones, divided Berlin which sits in the Soviet territory

• Soviet wanted to keep germany weak and extract reparations but west wanted to help germany economically because they saw it as a key to a stable central europe

Truman Doctrine

advocated containment of communism to any country that was threatened by it, 400 mill dollars

Marshall Plan

Allocated lots of money to help countries rebuild, healthy economy meant nations lean towards democracy- worked

Taft-Hartley Act

response to massive wave of labor strikes, made it harder to strike, made them pledge that they weren’t communist

Federal Employee Loyalty and Security Program

executive order from truman, made provisions for federal investigations into the political affiliations of federal workers

McCarthyism

US scared of communism, mccarthy significantly exacerbated it

claimed to have the names of 205 known communists in the state department, made US scared that communists were everywhere

Rosenberg Case

1949 soviet union tested first atomic bomb, rosenberg couple accused of being involved and giving soviet stolen plans, executed them in the electric chair in 1953, at least one of them were a soviet spy, they were communists. 

Interstate Highway System

Network of controlle-access highways that forms part of the National Highway Sytem in the US

Baby Boomers

People born after WWII in a time of relative peace and prosperity, leading to better education and job opportunities, encouraging fertility and marriage.

Suburbs

Where the middle class lived after WWII, conformity- same houses, same ways of dressing…

Red Scare

Nationwide fear of communism

Sunbelt

Spam of 15 states through the American southwest (from Cali to Carolinas) that experienced terrific population and productivity expansion during World War 2. People went for job opportunities, better climate, lower taxes.

Beat Generation

Group of writers and artists who rejected mainstream culture, emphasized individualism and non-conformity.

Korean War

Soviet Union-North Korea, U.S.-South Korea. 1950- North invaded the South, start of war. UN sent many troops, mainly from the U.S. that pushed North Korea almost to the South border of China. China wa slike no and sent troops to push them back to the line. Direct result of Truman’s containment policy.

Montgomery Bus Boycott

Rosa Parks refuses to give her seat up to a white man, led to a year-long protest of the bus system, successful and desegregated buses.

Brown v. Board of Education

Ruled that segregation in schools was unconstitutional, overturned Plessy v. Ferguson.

Sputnik

First satellite launched into space by Russians, began U.S “Race for Space” with Russia.

Domino Theory

Once one region fell to communism the others would too.

Great Society

Set of programs led by LBJ (1964-1965), Aimed to eliminate poverty and racial injustice.

Medicare, Medicaid, Abolished immigration quotas.

Hippies/counterculture

Drugs!! Rejected materialism, conformity, and consumerism of mainstream society. Freedom, peace, love, harmony.

Anti-war protests

Student-led protests against the Vietnam war and U.S. presence there.

Office of Economic Opportunity

Implemented self help programs to impoverished Americans. Only had limited success because cycles of poverty were harder to break and a lot of the money went to Vietnam.

Medicare

Federally funded health insurance for people over 65

Medicaid

Provided federally funded health insurance for those in poverty.

Warren Court

Handed down major decisions that expanded the application of liberalism from 1953-69

• Gideon v. Wainwright (1963)- ruled is a person is impoverished and cannot afford their own attorney in court, then the state must provide one for them

• Griswold v. Connecticut (1965)- ruled that laws which forbade the use of birth control were unconstitutional

• Engel v. Vitale (1962)- deemed school prayer unconstitutional as it violated the First Amendment’s provision for the separation of church and state.

• Baker v. Carr (1962)- Decided state must redraw their legislative districts so that they more accurately uphold voting rights (states had less people, but had a bigger voice, didn’t match one person one vote)

Vietnam War

Soviet Union-North, US- South Vietnam. Kennedy sent military advisors to south vietnam for 'support’. After Kennedy’s assassinated, LBJ became president, was kinda bad.

Gulf of Tonkin Incident

North Vietnam fired on US battleship in Gulf of Tonkin, Johnson used it as justification for U.S. military involvement.

Gulf of Tonkin Resolution

Gave LBJ (president)b blank check to exercise whatever powers were necessary to protect american interests in the region. Led to debate of overreach of executive power.

Johnson Administration in the Vietnam War

Credibility Gap- Johnson administration campaigns of disinformation on the war, but the war was the first televised war and reporters sent back reels of what was actually happening so people didn’t LBJ.

Tet Offensive

Massive surprise offensive that inflicted heavy casualties on U.S. troops.

Vietcong

Heavier harm, U.S’s response to the Tet Offensive

Vietnamization

Nixon’s presidency, wanted less involvement, U.S. removal of troops while still providing financial aid and munitions to carry out the war themselves.

Stonewall Riots

Resistance to unjust laws, encouraged gay Americans to be opened about their identity.

Watergate

Nixon endorsed people breaking in and stealing documents at the watergate office complex (democratic party headquarters), Nixon denied and lied but then resigned. Effect of people losing faith in their government.

Stagflation

Inflation combined with economic stagnation

Jimmy Carter

Iran Hostage Crisis- Americans held hostage Carter bad no one like

Roe v. Wade

Legalized abortion

Oil Embargo

Arab nations opposed Israel but the US supported it. So they dramatically reduced exports in the US and raised the prices of oil for the US which caused a significant shortage of oil in the US.

Phyllis Schlafly

STOP (stop taking our privileges) ERA, reason Equal Rights Amendment didn’t happen

Affirmative Action

Race would be a factor in hiring decisions and college admissions, saving spots for minorities.

Bakke v. University of California

Only determined that race wouldn’t be the only factor in decisions but still would be one.

Religious Right

Opposed Roe v. Wade, Protestant and Catholic Christians united over a common cause.

• Jerry Falwell- Moral Majority- melded Christianity and Conservative politics

• Focus on family- goal to reintroduce prayer into schools, resisted gay rights

Barry Goldwater

The new Right

Radical conservatives who resisted liberalism

John Birch Society

Limited Government, opposed Communism, lots of funky conspiracies

Radical conservatives

Silent Spring- Rachel Carson

Book on the modern society poisoning the earth

Environmental Protection Agency

Nixon, protected the environment

Clean Air Act (1963)

Controlled air pollution at a national scale (Nixon)

Nuclear Energy

• Three mile island- one of the nuclear reactors melted down and released tons of radioactive stuff in the environment

• Put fear in americans minds on nuclear energy

American Indian Movement (1968)

Self determination, address systemic poverty, reclaim heritage

Occupation of Alcatraz island

Abandoned by fed government, any abandoned land would be return to natives, so natives occupied and claimed for their own, federal government made it very hard for them to live there